


Love Across Lifetimes

by Schmitty63



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-14
Updated: 2015-07-22
Packaged: 2018-04-09 07:01:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 21,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4338512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Schmitty63/pseuds/Schmitty63
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Can souls who were reborn find the soul they fell in love with during their last life?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It had been two weeks since Percy passed away. Annabeth had never felt so lost.

They had been together since they were twelve. Sixty years… She couldn’t believe that he was gone. She had seen Percy fight countless monsters, giants, even Primordial Gods, but old age finally took him away from her.

It was the one foe that no mortal could defeat. Her children, Robert and Silena, had been coming by every day. She appreciated the company. She had forgotten how to function without Percy.

Today’s guest however was completely unexpected.

Annabeth came out of her and Percy’s bedroom, and stopped dead in her tracks. Standing in the middle of their living room, was her mother. Athena, Goddess of Wisdom and battle tactics, was visiting her for the first time in 40 years.

“My Lady Athena, this is a surprise.” Annabeth bowed, “May I ask what bring you here?”

“My daughter, I am sorry for the loss you’ve suffered. But do not worry, you shall join your husband soon in Elysium.

Hearing her mother tell her she would die soon should have freaked Annabeth out, but strangely it calmed her. She would see Percy soon, and in Elysium.

“That is not the only reason I came here,” Athena continued. “Both you and Perseus will have a choice when you get to Elysium.”

“A choice? What do you mean my Lady?”

“You both can choose to be reborn. This is the second time that you reached Elysium, Percy as well,” Athena said.

“The second time?” Annabeth asked her mother.

“Yes, the second time. The last life you both were in, you went by the names Perseus and Andromeda.”

Annabeth was dumbstruck. She and Percy had previously been the one successful love of the ancient stories.

“Yes, it surprises me as well that you found each other this life time as well,” Athena said answering Annabeth’s thoughts. “It seems your love can transcend lifetimes.”

“But my lady, if we are reborn, would we be demigods again? Or would we be regular mortals?”

“That I do not know. I am unfamiliar with the workings of the Underworld, but know this. If I have a chance to have you as my daughter again, I will in an instant.”

“I am beyond honored Lady Athena.”

With that, the wisdom goddess disappeared. Annabeth still couldn’t believe it. She and Percy had found each other in their second life. Could they do it again? Should they try it again?

She laid down in her bed. Wondering when she would see Percy again. She closed her eyes to go to sleep and went instantly.

When Annabeth opened her eyes, she was in the lobby of a familiar building. At first she thought it was a dream, she hadn’t been in this building since she was twelve years old. On her first quest with Percy, but then her mother’s words came back to her.

“You shall join your husband soon in Elysium.”

She wasn’t kidding when she said soon.

“Do you have money for the toll?” said a vaguely familiar voice.

She turned around to see Charon, the ferry man to the Underworld. She reached into her pocket and fished out a couple golden drachma.

Handing them to Charon she says, “Never leave home without some.”

After the boat ride, she stood in line for judgment. She was hoping she would have good judges. When she got in the room, the first judge she saw was Minos. She got nervous at that, but when Minos started, she was surprised.

“Annabeth Jackson, formerly Chase, no trial necessary. Lord Hades has expedited your process into Elysium with you.”

Relieved she walked through the door and started down the path toward Elysium. As she neared the gate, she saw a figure waiting by the gate. Maybe a gate keeper?

But as she got closer, the figure got more familiar. Then she saw wild, tangled black hair and she knew. She started sprinting, yelling, “Percy!” He started sprinting toward her.

They collided so hard they fell onto Percy. They laid there laughing, holding each other. “Wise Girl,” she heard him say. She missed his voice, his touch, his embrace.

“I missed you Seaweed Brain.” She looked into his sea green eyes.

She missed those eyes. “What are you doing out here? Why aren’t you inside Seaweed brain?”

“Because it wouldn’t be paradise without my Wise Girl. I told them I wouldn’t come in unless you were beside me.”

Annabeth felt like breaking down crying. “I’m sorry I made you wait.” She looked away from him.

He grabbed her face, and made her look into the eyes, “Wise Girl, I’d wait an eternity for you.”

He laughed and helped Annabeth up. She looked at her husband and she realized, he didn’t look like he did when he passed away. He looked like he did when he was in his twenties. She looked down at herself and realized, she didn’t seem so old either.

“Percy, how old do I look?” she asked.

“About 20, why?” he answered.

“Just making sure I don’t look like an ugly od grandma anymore.”

“Annabeth, you were always beautiful.”

“Shut up Seaweed Brain, let’s go inside.” She took Percy’s hand as they headed into the gate.


	2. Decisions

“So you mean to tell me that, in my past life, I was Perseus, son of Zeus; and you were Andromeda?” Percy had still been struggling with understanding.

“That’s what my mother said. She also said she couldn’t believe that we found each other a second time.” Annabeth adjusted her position on the comfy couch in their new home.

It was a homey little place, close to the beach. It came fully furnished and even had a library that would bring any book you wanted to read. There was also a large kitchen, which Percy decided he was going to use extensively. There was only one bedroom, but it was large. The bathroom had a large tub that was larger than most hot tubs. It was amazing.

“Should we try again?” Percy started. “I don’t want to risk not finding you in another life. I want to be with you for the rest of eternity.”

“We don’t have to do it now Seaweed Brain,” Annabeth chuckled. “We can think about it for a while. And besides, what makes you think I would let you get away? In this life or the next.”

“Wise Girl, I would make sure I will be around to annoy you in any life. Even if we are reborn in different countries, I’d find a way to annoy you.”

“I have no doubt Seaweed Brain.” As she pulled him in for a kiss.

A while later

We had seen a lot of our lost friends from over the years. The first people they met shortly after they arrived were Charles Beckendorf, who Percy still apologized to for leaving him behind on the ship; Silena Beauregard, Lee Fletcher and a few others. Then we were joined by the rest of our friends from the Argo II not long after. Apparently not even a year had passed between all of them passing away.

First was Jason and Piper, then Frank and Hazel. Apparently Hazel passed first and Frank followed her the next night. Typical Frank, he always wanted to follow Hazel into every adventure.

Leo came next, and after a couple “Elysium weeks,” Calypso came which surprised everyone. She told everyone that after Leo died, she pleaded to the Gods to remove every last bit of immortality, she didn’t want to wander the Earth alone any longer.

Reyna came and went almost instantly. Wanting to be reborn again.

Finally came Nico and Will. They hadn’t changed either, Will still smiled and glowed with happiness. Nico was dark, gloomy and grumpy.

“Nico! Finally made it to the party!” Jason greeted him with a slap on the back.

“Would have been here sooner if Dr. Sunshine over there wasn’t trying to heal me all the stinking time,” Nico grumbled.

“Dr. Sunshine at your service!” Will said loudly as he wrapped Nico in a hug.

Nico tried to look annoyed, but you could tell he was happy.

 

Annabeth felt good, finally having the whole gang back together. They had been in Elysium for 50 Earth years. Which was weird because it only felt like a month had passed. But now one was complaining. They were just enjoying a time where they didn’t have a single worry.

Next, however, was the matter of how long they were going to stay together; if she and Percy choose to be reborn, they may never see any of their friends again. They decided to inform their friends of the situation they were in. They hoped that the others could help them make the choice.

“Holy Hera… you guys were pretty much the only successful love story from ancient times!” Jason looked dumbstruck. No one could believe what they had achieved in the last life, two souls finding each other again; and they didn’t know if it could happen a third time.

Annabeth knew she could do it though. She would find Percy again, of that she had no doubt. They already spent two lifetimes together, they could do it a third time. She loved challenging the odds.

“Was this anyone else’s second life?” Percy asked. Everyone, except Nico, Will and Calypso, raised their hand.

“Do you guys know who you were before?” Percy asked.

“I was a soldier in WWII who refused to leave a ridge that I was ordered to hold,” Frank started. “Everyone in my unit either ran away or was dead.” He was staring into space, “I held the enemy for two extra hours, fighting until all I had was my knife.” He looked up to see everyone staring at him in disbelief. “Mars showed me a few days before I died.”

Neither Hazel nor Piper knew who they were in their past lives. Leo didn’t know either. All he had to say about it was, “But whoever he was, he was probably super awesome and very hot!”

“And full of hot air,” Calypso added, to which everyone laughed.

“What about you Jason? Who were you?” Percy asked.

Jason mumbled a response that no one could catch.

“Who?” Annabeth asked.

Again, he let out another mumble.

“Jason Grace, answer the question, loudly and clearly!” Piper scolded her husband, and when he shrank in fear, it was one of the funniest things Annabeth had seen.

“Franklin Delano Roosevelt!” Jason, all but yelled that time. His face turned red and he suddenly found his shoes very interesting.

Everyone was stunned, except for Calypso, who asked, “Who is that?”

“He was one of the greatest presidents of the U.S.” Annabeth started. “He started getting the U.S. out of the great Depression. Started great reforms, and helped a lot of people.”

“Sounds impressive,” Calypso said nodding.

“Nico,” Percy started. “You don’t happen to know if anything special happens if someone reaches the Isles of the Blessed, do you?”

Nico sat quietly for a bit, then he said, “There was a legend that I heard only once though, that you could choose which of your lives that you lived as in the Isles. They show you your choices and you decide, with all the memories of that life. Along with the memories of the other lives, apparently it is a very interesting experience.”

“Also, in the Isles of the Blessed, you can visit people in Elysium whenever you want. The place you live will change to whatever scenery you want to live by. If you want to live next to the ocean, then the area around your house turns into the beach. If you want to live next to the Grand Canyon, then the Canyon would be outside your window. I also heard that you could visit souls that are in the fields of Asphodel and they will be like they used to be in life for a short while. You can find anyone from your past, as long as they aren’t in the fields of punishment.”

“The Isles of the Blessed are beautiful,” he continued. “The days are always sunny, never too hot or too cold. No clouds in the sky, no rain, no bad weather of any sorts. I don’t think many people make it to the Isles.” 

It was silent for a few minutes after he finished. Everyone looked as if they were picturing themselves there.

“Let’s not dwell on what might be,” Calypso said. “Let’s focus on the here and now.”

“Yeah,” Leo started. “Let’s focus on how lucky you guys are now that I’m here!”

The whole group rolled their eyes and decided to call it a night. They said their good-byes and headed for home.

Annabeth took hold of her husband’s hand as they walked. “It’s hard to decide what to do. Do we leave our friends? Do we risk never seeing them again? Do we risk never seeing each other again?”

“I’m not sure Wise Girl, but let’s not worry about it for tonight. We have nothing but time, so we can think about it. We won’t rush the choice. Besides, who says I don’t want to enjoy paradise with my wife for a while.”

Annabeth nodded in agreement, and gave a huge smile to her Seaweed Brain, “I’d be fine with some paradise time. We’ve earned it.”

 

Percy

Annabeth and Percy had been in Elysium for about 100 Earth years. It didn’t seem that long in the Underworld, but the time Percy had spent with his friends had been fun.

The group had finally decided who was going to be reborn. The only ones who would be staying behind were, Nico, Will, Leo and Calypso.

“I’m perfect here with Calypso,” he said when they asked him whether or not he was coming. “No one is going to split up Caleo!”

“Caleo?” Percy asked.

“That’s our power couple name, I gave every couple a name. Percy, you and Annabeth are Percabeth. Jason, you guys are Jiper, or Jasper, haven’t decided which I like more. Frank, you and Hazel are Frazel.”

Frank, Percy and Jason looked at each other skeptically. “Right…” Percy says, “Well I guess, enjoy paradise man. We’ll see you later.”

Percy couldn’t believe that he and his friends were actually going to be reborn. No one knew what was going to happen.

The six being reborn met at the gate to Elysium. Ready to begin their journey, they headed off to the judges of the dead.

Percy held Annabeth’s hand the whole way. He still couldn’t believe he was willingly leaving her.

But he was very confident that they would find each other a third time. Even if it killed him, he would find his Wise Girl.

“What’s on your mind Seaweed Brain?” Annabeth asked him.

“That I can’t wait to see who you will be in the next life,” he said with a grin. As he wrapped his arm around her waist he fought away the anxiety in his belly. “Also that I’m ready for our next big adventure.”


	3. Reintroductions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I wanted to change the parentage of the characters, but it got too tough to track the characters for anyone other than myself. So to keep it easier, I kept everyone's godly parent the same as the books.

Whoever had the notion that girls are weak and need saved by boys obviously never met Rose, daughter of Athena.

She has a ferocity that is matched by no one. Her eyes are a harsh gray color, like a storm coming in off the ocean. She likes to fight up close and personal with a small sword, no longer than her fore arm.

The first time Justin met her, she was saving his butt. He was at school when these big bullies came up to him, and said they were going to eat him. That was when it started to get weird, it got weirder when he looked at their faces and they only had one big eye in the center of their face. Then all of a sudden they burst into golden dust.

He fell to the ground and looked up at this blonde haired, gray eyed girl. Her hair was curly and bounced as she moved. Her skin was tanned like she worked outside a lot. She was very pretty.

“What’s your name kid?” she asked him.

“J-Justin Peterson.”

“I’m Rose Moore, daughter of Athena. Who is your parent?”

“What do you mean? My mom died after I was born and I never knew my dad. Did you say Athena? Like named after the God?”

“No, THE God. I’m a demigod, you are as well.”

“I’m a demi… what?”

“Demigod; Half mortal, half God. Come on, let’s get you to Camp Half Blood and everything will be explained.”

That was a little over three years ago. Since then, they had developed quite a friendship. They usually did activates together and they always wanted the other by their side in a fight.

People said they’d make a cute couple, but they weren’t THAT close. Justin wouldn’t deny that Rose was pretty, but he wouldn’t ever say anything.

They argue a lot. Of course, it’s expected given the fact that he is a son of Poseidon and she is a daughter of Athena. But that is why they are friends, they don’t sugar coat things.

Being a son of Poseidon, he has some pretty awesome powers. He can breathe under water and he won’t get wet unless he wants to. He can also control anything water based. If it’s salt water it works a lot better, but fresh water still works. The water also heals him, salt water is the best, but fresh water works in a pinch. He also can talk with horses and any marine animal. 

Rose, being daughter of Athena was super smart. She is the smartest person that Justin knew. When it came to capture the flag, Justin always wanted her to plan the attack. She wants to be an architect someday, she likes to build almost as much as she likes to destroy.

The other friends in their group of friends are Alexandra, although to us, she is Ally. She is a daughter of Aphrodite who can charmspeak. She is so good that she once got Chiron, our centaur teacher, to give her a ride on his back. But that isn’t her only talent. She is one of the best campers with a sword, she can even duel wield a sword with a dagger if she needs to.

She is dating Charley. His dad is Jupiter, which most people would think means that Justin wouldn’t get along with him. It was the complete opposite though, Justin and Charley were best friends, almost like brothers. He has powers over the winds, he can control the air currents to make him fly. He also commands wind spirits to do his bidding. His other power is that he can channel electricity throughout his whole body.

Then there is Gabriel, we call him Gabe. He is the son of Mars. He is almost as good as Rose at tactics, but he isn’t quite to her level. He doesn’t have any special powers but he isn’t like most kids of the War God. He is pretty level headed and he is very kind. He doesn’t like fighting, he will avoid it if he can. 

Last, but certainly not least is Grace, daughter of Pluto. She is super nice, and she can control precious metals and gems. She can also control the earth to do what she wants. It comes in handy during capture the flag to tunnel behind the enemy lines to their flag. 

Gabe is the newest of the group. This is his first full summer at camp, but he quickly fit in. He also follows Grace around like a lost puppy. Usually that would annoy her, but Gabe is so nice that Justin is pretty sure she likes it.

Usually Roman demigods live in California at Camp Jupiter, but these three grew up on the East Coast and they didn’t want to leave their family that far away.

The six of them were pretty much inseparable. They were usually causing trouble of some sorts, usually pranks. Last year a prank war broke out so bad and so long that Chiron had to order everyone to stop.

But no one had any idea how much their world would change this year.


	4. The First Domino Falls

Justin has never gotten along with the kids from Hades cabin. He fights with them every day. The only person he doesn’t fight with was Grace, and that is only because she doesn’t usually hang out with her siblings. Today however was the Mother of all fights.

Rose wasn’t sure how the fight started, but then again, she rarely does. But this one got out of hand fast.

Three kids from Hades cabin are face to face with Justin and everyone looks very mad. She thinks Kate, the senior Hades camper and head of the cabin started by trashing Justin’s mom. Kate knows better than to trash Poseidon, however Justin didn’t think clearly enough to remember the golden rule.

Never disrespect the Gods.

“Hades is the worst God ever! Everyone hates him! His weapon, the Helm of Darkness, sucks! His powers are weak and creepy and so are his children!” Justin is so mad that water is starting to spin around him, like a miniature hurricane.

Rose and everyone around the scene freezes, and all of a sudden, the noon sun seems to almost go out. The temperature drops twenty degrees and fear settles in.

Out of nowhere, Justin grabs his head and yells in agony. “NO! LORD HADES! I’M SORRY!” He is yelling so loud that Rose is shocked that his vocal chords are still intact. She quickly runs over to her best friend to try and help him.

His sea green eyes that usually cause her emotions to stir, which always puzzled her, are now distant and lifeless. His body is shaking like he just came out of the Arctic Ocean. He is terrified beyond anything she had ever seen him.

“Rose… No…”

 

“I’m here Justin, your friends are here. SOMEONE GET CHIRON!”

“Don’t hurt Rose… Please… I need her…”

She starts to cry, her best friend is going through something horrible, and she can’t help. “GET CHIRON NOW!” she is desperate, she would do anything for this boy.

“Lord Hades,” she starts in a whisper. So soft she can barely hear herself. “I beg of you, don’t harm him. This stupid boy is my best friend, and he is very important to me. I know he is an idiot, and I will personally kick his butt until he apologizes and makes a proper sacrifice.”

The God’s grip on Justin seems to tighten slightly, then it is released. The shaking lessens, but his eyes stay the same, and he still looks terrified.

He looks at her, and recognition clicked, “Rose, please don’t leave this time.”

“I’m not going anywhere Barnacle Brain.” She hoped that her usage of his nickname would help bring him back to her.

“HADES PLEASE RELEASE ME! I know this isn’t real, please stop Hades.” He starts holding himself in the fetal position.

What? “Justin, you’re back, you’re safe.”

“No, please have him stop Rose, I can’t keep losing you.”

About that time Chiron comes running up to them. Pushing campers aside trying to see what is going on.

“Move! What has happened here?”

“Justin insulted our father,” Kate started. “So Dad made him pay for it.”

“He used the Helm of Darkness and now he can’t discern reality anymore.” Rose says, crying the whole while.

Chiron hands some ambrosia to Rose, “See if this helps”

She starts feeding Justin the godly food, sending up a prayer to any and all the Gods for help. Begging them to save her friend.

“Rose?” he says, with some clarity. “What happened?”

“You were going mad, the helm started making you go insane.” His eyes start to clear up as she explains to him what happened.

Then almost as quickly as it left, his eyes drift again, and he falls back into his nightmare.

“This requires expert hands,” says Chiron. “Rose, if you’ll help me bring him up to the big house,” She picks him up and Fireman carries him up to the big house.

While they run, she asks Chiron, “Who are we going to get? Who can fix this?”

“Our former Godly director, Lord Dionysus”

It must be bad if Chiron is calling him for help.

They set him down on the couch, still praying to all the gods, even Hades, for help.

“My dear, I think it best you’d leave before Dionysus arrives, he isn’t fond of children. Also, there is no telling how he will arrive.”

Rose knows better than to be around a God when they are in their true form. You can be vaporized in an instant.

“Take care of him Chiron, please.”

“You know I will Rose, don’t worry.”

Rose leaves the Big House, furious, looking for a certain daughter of Hades.

When she finds Kate, she draws her sword and yells.

“Kate! If you have some problem with Justin, it ends right here! Right now! I don’t care what the reason is, you end it! Or so help me by all the Gods, Greek and Roman, you will regret it.”

Kate has a look of pure terror on her face. “Rose, how about you put away your sword and we can talk.”

She didn’t want to put her sword away, but if she was going to get any answers, she needed to concede a little bit. So reluctantly, she puts her sword away.

“Let’s talk then. What is your problem with Justin? Why do you hate each other?”

Kate suddenly found her shoes very interesting.

“I don’t hate him. I truly don’t, not even a little bit.”

“Then why do you look at him with disgust? Every time we see you, you look like you want to fight him.” Rose was trying to keep her cool. It’s a lot harder to talk to someone when you’re clashing swords.

“It’s not him that I’m looking at, it’s you.”

“Me? Why me?”

“Oh come on Rose, a daughter of Athena, you should know the answer to that. Think about it smarty pants.” Kate says angrily.

Rose thinks for a moment, then it hits her.

“You like Justin…”

Kate’s tear was all the confirmation she needed. “Oh Kate, I’m so sorry. Why didn’t you say something? Justin and I aren’t like that…”

“Oh please! Everyone can see you have a thing for each other! You’ve been attached at the hip for three years now! Look me in the eye and tell me that you don’t think of him like that at all!”

**Silence**

“That’s what I thought,” Kate said as she storms away.

From the Big House a huge bright light pours through the windows and Rose took off towards it to see Justin. She has to know if it worked. She will handle the Kate situation later.

She and Justin aren’t really into each other in that way… are they?

Rose won’t deny that she has feelings for Justin, but are they romantic?

She gets to the front step of the Big House, just as the light fades. Just as she gets onto the porch, the front door opens. Chiron comes out and looks at her. Rose is pretty sure her heart has stopped beating. Waiting to hear the verdict.

“Rose, come on in,” Chiron says.

Rose goes into the room, and laying there on the couch is her hero. Sporting a huge trouble maker grin. Her heart soars with relief, and she lets a few tears escape from happiness.

His smile makes her heart skip a beat, but she thinks it’s only relief.

“Hey Ro,” Justin says.


	5. A God Vanishes

The last couple weeks since Hades made him lose his marbles. Things around camp had tense. Not just between Poseidon and Hades cabins, but all around. Almost like all the campers expected a big fight to break out. It was awkward with Grace for a couple of days until Justin apologized and he told her how Kate insulted his mother and she forgave him.

Rose has barely left his side, and any time the subject of Kate is brought up, Rose turned red and gets defensive. When they have ran into her, the tension would become so volatile that Justin would feel like the air would spontaneously combust. The whole situation has been driving him insane.

Rose kept her promise that she supposedly made to Hades. She beat Justin up for three days straight until she thought Justin had groveled and sacrificed enough food to Hades. Even when he scraped his whole plate into the fire on the second day, she insisted he do more

He doesn’t mind one bit. Reason one, he deserved every bit of it, and he is gladly taking the punishment. Reason two, he is no longer in his nightmare world without his best friend.

Rose keeps asking him what Hades made him see. He kept showing me different scenarios where you died or left me, he would think. But he can’t tell her that. She doesn’t like him that way, and he doesn’t want to ruin their relationship.

The rest of the group kind of hovers around him as well, which is worse. He doesn’t need any protection. Whenever he tells them he is fine and they can leave, they look at Rose, almost like they are asking for permission.

He keeps wondering what they know that he doesn’t. He tried asking Charley, but all he would say was that Rose and Kate got into it and some stuff was said. He wouldn’t go any further, he would just tell Justin to ask Rose, but she wouldn’t say either.

The other campers tease them more than usual. Ever since, he and Rose had been spending more time together, which they had previously thought was impossible. But Justin couldn’t care less. He wasn’t going to let Rose out of his sight again.

When it came time for capture the flag, the camp was divided into two teams. Justin had all his friends on his team except for Grace, which is normal. Hades cabin is never on the same team.

Usually his group runs into the enemy camp to get the flag, but everyone decides to change the plan. This week, Justin, along with Rose and Charley are defenders. While they defend the flag, the rest of the group will split into two groups into a pincer maneuver behind their lines.

When the horn signals the start, most of the group run off into the forest. Justin wants to join them so badly. He can hear swords clashing in the distance and he becomes antsy.

He swings his sword, Anaklusmos, or as he usually calls it, Riptide. He needs to fight someone, release his frustration from the week.

All of a sudden, kids from Hecate and Demeter cabin come bursting into the clearing.

Finally

He blocks every strike brought to him. He bashes a helmet with his hilt, slaps a weapon out of someone’s hand with the flat of his blade. Parry left, block right, before he knows it, fifteen kids lay on the ground nursing their wounds.

He turns towards Rose and Charley. He sees them dispatching the last of the attackers. Rose has a cut on her arm and she looks winded.

“Doing alright there Ro?”

“Fine, keep your head in the game Barnacle Brain, don’t worry about me.”

He can’t help it though. He has always worried about her. Though he never tells her, it might make things weird.

Next thing he knows, the rest of his team come bursting into the clearing, holding the other team’s flag, shortly followed by Chiron.

“Red team wins the match!” 

His team erupts in cheers and celebration. But the celebration is short lived.

Out of nowhere a bright light comes into the clearing. Luckily everyone is looking away from the God who entered the clearing.

The next thing that they all know, the Goddess Athena is standing in the clearing. Every camper immediately goes down to one knee.

“Lady Athena,” Chiron started. “To what do we owe the honor?”

“Campers, I come to you in a time of great danger. Hades has gone missing. No one knows where he is. He must be found immediately.”

“I say good riddance,” Justin grumbles to Rose, hoping Athena can’t hear him. Unfortunately his luck isn’t that good.

“Young hero, if you knew the whole situation you might not be so smug. Not only does a missing God cause trouble, but there is even more trouble than just trouble. Minos, one of the judges of the dead has taken over control of the dead and has taken control of the Underworld. He has recruited his son, the Minotaur and has taken Hades’ palace. He plans to take over the mortal world next.”

“Oh…” is all Justin can respond with.

“Yes, now you see the gravity of the situation. There must be a quest to find Hades, and another to stop Minos in the Underworld. The power Hades has over the Underworld is fading, wherever he is trapped it is interfering with his powers. There are only ten days left before his power is gone for good. Minos must be defeated before you free him as well. He will be too strong for Hades to beat at his weakened state.”

The entire camp has now grown completely silent. Hades has gone missing and if he isn’t found and returned to the Underworld in ten days, Minos will take over the Mortal World.

“I must go now, choose wisely for the ones to lead each quest. I wish all of you the best of luck.” With that, she starts to glow. Everyone looks away to avoid the supernova that was Athena’s departure.

“It seems we have some decisions to make,” Chiron says. “All cabin counselors, war meeting at the Big House in thirty minutes. Everyone else, return to your cabins.”


	6. War Plans

When all the cabin counselors gather in the Big House for the war meeting, tension is so high it could be cut with a knife.

Rose still felt a little ticked. Her mother had been twenty feet away from her, but didn’t even look toward Rose. What was that about?

Chiron comes into the room in his magical wheel chair that hides his horse body, making it easier to be inside.

“Now, I believe that we have some business to attend to,” he says. “First shall be the matter of deciding who shall quest for Lord Hades.”

To no one’s surprise, Kate volunteers immediately. “I will lead the quest. I will take two of my siblings. I have been having dreams lately, of my father being trapped. I think he is reaching out to me. There have been images of Alaska, so that’s where we will head first.”

Chiron nods his head, “Yes that sounds like a good plan. We will provide support for your quest. Things like money, weapons and such. We will discuss that later. Now, for the matter of the Underworld.”

This time, Chiron is met with silence. Rose looks for the person who would volunteer. Then after a few seconds, a voice next to her says, “I will go.”

She turns to her right, to look at the owner of the voice, her best friend. Her heart drops a little bit. She doesn’t want him going on this quest. It will be too dangerous, literally facing an army.

“I will lead this quest, but I will need more than two companions.” He turns his face and look directly into Rose’s eyes. “I wouldn’t ask you if I didn’t think I needed you Ro. Going against an army, you are the one I need by my side.”

As she looks into his eyes, she can see the pleading in them. She can’t refuse him, not when he needs her this much.

“Of course Barnacle Brain. Someone has to make sure you don’t do anything stupid.” She playfully punch his arm.

“I also would like to take Charley, Ally, Grace, and Gabe,” Justin says, back to Chiron. Then he turns to Ally and Charley, “What do you guys say?”

Charley looks to Ally, who nods. “We’re in,” he says.

Everyone turns to Chiron. He thinks for a minute, then says, “Normally I wouldn’t want more than three on a quest, but this is a special circumstance. If Gabe and Grace agree, they can go.”

“Awesome. My plan would be to take the secret entrance of Orpheus. If I remember the old story of Percy Jackson correctly, the entrance is in Central Park somewhere. I figure Grace can probably get us close, then maybe she can open it, or a satyr could come with us as far as the park.”

Rose feels slightly confused, “Why not the entrance in Los Angeles? It seems easier.”

He chuckles, “You didn’t think about Minos guarding that entrance? Come on Ro, you are supposed to be the brainiac.” He gives her his signature grin.

Oh, duh.

Chiron nods, “Good plan, I believe an old friend, Grover Underwood is living in Central Park right now. I shall send him a message to meet you somewhere there.”

Rose can’t help but feel anxious, she and her five friends were about to venture into the Underworld. A place that is hostile on a normal day. Now it is being run by a mad king who is dead. How can they kill him?

“Chiron,” she starts. “Will our celestial bronze weapons work on the dead?”

“Hm, good question my dear. Kate, any idea?”

“Not someone like Minos,” Kate started. “It will affect any zombies. Souls will shy away from it, but Minos will require Stygian Iron.”

“Do we have any weapons like that?” Justin asked her.

“Grace has a Stygian blade, she doesn’t use it much, but she is still very good with it. We also might have a few daggers you could take.”

After mulling over the details of his plan for a while, Justin nods his head.“That sounds like everything,” Justin concluded.

“Then let us adjourn. You all know your responsibilities, I’ll see you all in the morning,” Chiron says and they start heading toward their cabins.

Rose grabs Justin’s arm, making sure he doesn’t get too far away. “Hey, are you sure you’re up for this? It doesn’t have to be you.”

He puts his hand on her shoulder and looks into her eyes, his green eyes seeming to pierce right to her soul “Yes, it does. I need to help Hades, it’s the least I can do after insulting him.”

He must see the worry on her face because he puts his other hand on her other shoulder and says, “If you don’t want to come I understand. Don’t worry, I won’t get hurt.”

“Oh Barnacle Brain, you know you shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep. Besides, you’re my best friend, I’ll follow you anywhere, even the Underworld.”

He gives her a big smile, “Yeah? Well I’d follow you to Tartarus, so that makes me the better friend.”

Glad for his usual joker attitude. Rose follows with, “Yeah like we’d ever fall into Tartarus!” they start laughing at that for a while. The only people who ever fell into Tartarus and lived to tell the tale about it were Percy and Annabeth. Rose always admired that story, she loved how Percy and Annabeth started as best friends and eventually became a great love story.

After they calm down, they head off towards Hades cabin to find Grace and ask her if she would like to go on the quest. When she agrees, they head toward Aries cabin.

Along the way, Justin puts his arm around Rose’s shoulder. It’s a simple, friendly gesture, but it comforts her immensely. She feels safe in Justin’s warm embrace.

She would definitely follow him anywhere he went.


	7. A Great Power

Rose lay in bed that night, tossing and turning. Constantly thinking, how can we do this? We aren’t strong enough.

At some point, she falls asleep for a short while. In her dream, she gets a visitor.

Rose, Athena’s owl appears in her dream. Meet me by beach. The dream suddenly went black.

Rose bolts upright in her bed. Her mother has never appeared in her dreams. But she knows better than to ignore this dream.

Rose silently gets out of bed and slides her sneakers on, along with a hoodie over her orange Camp Half Blood t-shirt. She quietly goes out the door and heads off toward the beach.

When she gets there, she nervously stands there waiting. She doesn’t want to get caught and eaten by the harpies.

After waiting for a few minutes, which feels like an eternity, a warm presence comes up behind her. Thinking it’s a harpy, she spins around, drawing her sword, only to come face to face with her mother.

Immediately, she drops her sword, “My Lady, I beg your forgiveness.” Rose bows so low, she could touch her toes if she wanted to.

“Rise my daughter, you have nothing to apologize for. I would expect nothing less of you.”

Rose stands up, grabbing her sword and placing it in its sheath. “To what do I owe the great honor, mother?”

“I come to give you help in this great hour of need. You feel as if you do not have the strength you need, correct?”

Rose nods, wondering where her mother is going with this.

“You have more strength than you know. You are special Rose.”

“But how? I know that I am smart, but we need more.”

“Do you recall the story of Heracles? Specifically how he gained his strength?”

“I had only heard he was strong because he was a son of Zeus, but nothing more than that. It has always been a mystery to me.”

“No, if every child of Zeus was that strong, your friend Charley would be strong. No, the reason he was so strong was because shortly after he was born, he drank the milk of my breast. My milk is what gave him his strength, I have only done this with one other demigod. Can you guess who that child was?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t heard of any other demigods that had his strength.”

“The other child was not in ancient times. The other child, was you.”

Rose can’t believe what she is hearing. She actually nursed from her mother, something only one other demigod had done, and that demigod was Heracles! But if that is what gave him his great strength, why didn’t Rose have that strength?

Athena gives a knowing smile. “You wonder why you are not as strong as Heracles, when in reality, you are just as strong. In fact, you may be stronger than he was. The reason why your strength is not shown is due to the charm on your bracelet.”

Rose brings her left wrist up, looking at the owl charm on her bracelet. “My father told me I wore it when I was delivered to him, as a gift from you.”

“It is magic, I gave it to you, to protect you from your own strength.”

“So if I take it off, I will be as strong as Heracles?” Rose asks.

Athena nods, “I wanted you to have a chance to be as normal as possible, to protect you.”

Rose takes off the bracelet and she feels a surge of energy. She walks over to a very large boulder and bends to pick it up. She lifts the rock, which looked to be about 700 pounds, but it felt about as heavy as a bowling ball. She then throws the boulder out over Long Island Sound and it eventually disappears.

Rose has never felt so alive. She wants to walk right up to Minos and punch him right in the nose. But one question was pulling at the back of her mind.

As she put the bracelet back on her wrist and feels her power suppressed, she asks, “What made me so special my lady? Why was I able to gain this strength when only one other had the honor?”

Athena waited for a minute, then started. “Shortly after you were born, Aries came into the room in his true, godly form. While you weren’t looking at him, you were still an infant and being near him you were injured. I wasn’t sure if you would make it, and if you did, you would always be weak from your injuries.”

Rose was trying to wrap her mind around this whole story, but finding it hard to grasp any of it. She is still finding it hard to believe that she has had this strength all this time.

Athena continued, “So I went to Zeus and asked his permission to do to you as I had done to Heracles so many years before. He allowed me to help you, due to the nature of your circumstance. But, in allowing me to save you, he told me that I could not interact with you, even more so than the rule already states. That was the price I was willing to give you a chance at happiness. You are special in more ways than you can know.”

Rose wondered what that meant. How else could she be special? “What do you mean my Lady? How can I be more special?”

“That is something that I can not explain right now, just know that you have a great opportunity ahead of you, and I wanted you to have a chance at it.” The look that her mother gave, Rose knew not to keep asking.

“Do I need to keep my strength a secret? Or am I allowed to tell people?” Rose asked.

“The information is yours to whoever you please. Just beware that if word gets around that you have the strength of Heracles, it will attract monsters to you. I must leave you now, I have been here too long. Good luck on your quest, do not expect much help from the Gods, whatever Minos has done to gain power might deplete our power if we enter the Underworld.”

“Thank you mother, I am grateful for all the help you have given me tonight.”

Rose turns away as Athena assumed her true godly form. When her mother was gone, Rose sat down on the beach, thinking about all the information that was given to her tonight. Not only does she share a great honor with Heracles, but she has the same power as he did. A child of Athena doesn’t usually have any special powers. Should she tell anyone? 

I can tell Justin. I can tell him anything. I should at least tell him.

“Ro?” she hears Justin come up behind her. “What are you doing out here?” She turns around to see Justin walking toward her, coming from the cabins.

“Me? What about you? Why are you way out here?”

“I was laying in my bed and I heard you talking to someone.”

“How could you hear me way out here?” 

“You aren’t that far from my cabin. Quit dodging the question Ro.”

Rose knows that she should tell him everything that just happened, but decides to wait, and only tell part of the story for now. “My mother came to me in a dream, she had some big news to give me.”

Justin looked confused, “What kind of big news? Something for the quest? Or what?”

Rose is fighting with herself, trying to decide whether she should tell him or not. If she can trust him with her life, surely she can trust him with this. 

But what if he thinks differently of me? Or what if he expects more of me. What if he thinks I’m a monster? 

“Ro, you can tell me anything, you know that.” He knows that she is hiding something from her. A look of concern and pain covers his face. She hates to lie to him, even if by omission, but she needs to process all the information first.

Rose lets out a sigh, “I’ll tell you later, I swear on the Styx.”

Some relief comes to his face, “I’ll hold you to that. Come on, let’s get back to the cabins, we need to sleep, we leave in a few hours.”

They start back to the cabins, slowly, enjoying each other’s company. Walking a lot like they did before, his arm wrapped around her shoulder, holding her close. Rose tries to calm down, knowing that it would be impossible to relax at a time like this. “It’s going to be impossible to get to sleep.”

“You still should try, you are going to need your strength tomorrow. Try to turn off your big brain for once.” She looks at him and sees his teasing grin.

Giving him a playful punch she can’t help but chuckle, “Trust me, I have plenty of strength,” Rose says to herself.

They arrive at Poseidon cabin and Justin gives her a hug. “Good night Ro, see you in a couple hours.” He gives her one of his signature grins, making her feel like things may be alright.

“Good night Justin,” she smiles back, and starts walking towards her cabin.

The walk back to her cabin was a long one. Tonight’s events keep running through her mind. She still can’t believe all that has been revealed to her. She takes off her shoes and crawls back into her bed, and slowly falls asleep.


	8. Decent into Darkness

It took the group a couple of hours to arrive at Central Park. To Justin, it seemed an eternity. Last night’s walk with Rose had been running through his mind the whole time. What was she not telling me? Should I ask her about it? No, when she is ready, she will tell me.

Everyone gets out of the van and unloads their supplies, including their new Stygian Iron daggers. Justin turns to Argus, the camp’s head of security looks at him and raises an eyebrow, almost as if to ask if they need anything. “Thanks Argus, we got it from here, drive careful on the way back.”

He gives Justin a nod, then climbs back into the van and takes off.

Justin turns to his group and he can tell that everyone is nervous. He can feel the anxiety building inside of himself. But he can’t let the others see it. So he pushes his fear down further inside of himself, determined to hide it.

“Alright guys, let’s find Grover, then Grace is going to try and find Orpheus’ tunnel. Grover should be pretty close. Charley, mind getting a bird’s eye view?” Justin had to fight to keep his voice from shaking. He had to stay calm and in control.

“On it,” Charley says and takes off flying. Almost immediately, he comes back down. “He is about half a mile north of here.”

“You’re sure?” Justin asks.

“Unless there is another satyr with a bright orange shirt looking around.”

“Let’s get going then,” Justin says.

About ten minutes later, they come up on a satyr who had large horns poking out of his curly hair. He has a fairly long Billy Goat beard that covers half of the words on his Camp Half Blood t-shirt. When he saw the group he jumped up from the stump he was sitting on.

“So I’m assuming you are the army that wants to sneak into the Underworld.” Grover’s voice was full of disapproval.”

“Yes, with your help, if you will,” Rose says, trying to sound as nice as possible.”

“I don’t like it, but I’ll help. Just don’t ask me to go down with you.” Justin could hear the fear in Grover’s voice, the thought of having to go down to the Underworld was probably the worst thing possible for the satyr.

“No, we wouldn’t do that to you Grover. We are just grateful that you are helping us this much. If you ever need anything, let us know.” Justin wanted to comfort the satyr and let him know how grateful they are.

“If you make it back, I’ll hold you to that,” Grover responded. “Let’s go find that tunnel, if my memory is good, it shouldn’t be far from here.”

Grace came forward, “Guess I’m up then.” Her eyes close, allowing her to concentrate. She stands there silently for about fifteen minutes. She finally points to the West and says, “About 500 feet that way, I’m pretty sure it’s around there.”

They walk over to the area that Grace points out. When they get there, Grover pulls out his reed pipes. “Any requests what you’d like to hear?” he nervously jokes. “Percy always used to tell me that my music could split rocks.”

The group gives him a nervous laugh, trying to comfort him.

“Here goes nothing I guess.” Grover says. He puts the pipes up to his lips and starts to play. The music isn’t bad, but it isn’t necessarily good either.

The ground starts to shake, then a fissure opens up in front of us. The opening isn’t very wide, only about four feet.

“Well, good luck you guys. You are going to need it down there.” Grover is trying to sound brave for them.

“Thank you Grover, see you in a little while, alright?” Justin pats his shoulder.

Grover nods.

Justin turns toward the tunnel, “Guess I’ll lead the way.” He brings out Riptide and starts down the tunnel. It is only wide enough for a single file line.

As soon as Ally, who is bringing up the rear, enters the tunnel, the opening slams shut. Leaving them in darkness.

“Guess we can’t count on the cavalry coming,” Ally says.

“Story of a demigod’s life,” Gabe replies.

They all nod in agreement.

Justin presses onward. The tunnel seems to get darker, which Justin can’t believe. The only light comes from Riptide and the other weapons, the blades’ Celestial Bronze let off an eerie glow in the darkness. The tunnel also gets hotter with each and every step they take. The tunnel stretches on for what feels like eternity.

Justin felt like they would be descending forever. But just as he was about to scream from frustration, he suddenly noticed that it wasn’t quite as dark as it was before. He wasn’t the only one to notice either.

“Did it just get lighter?” Rose asks.

“I think so,” he answers.

As they forge on ahead, it becomes clear that it is getting lighter and not so cramped. We must be getting close.

When the tunnel finally opens up and they emerged from the cramped quarters, the sight takes their breath away.

They can see the walls that border the Fields of Asphodel, which are supposed to be full and packed full of souls. As the group looks on at the sight, they all notice something is off. “The fields aren’t nearly as full as they should be,” Justin says. “Based off of what legend has said, the plains should be full of souls, but these look deserted.”

“Where could they possibly be?” Gabe asks. “It isn’t like they could just get up and leave, they can’t even really form a conscious thought can they?”

“No,” Grace answers. “They don’t even know who they are, there is no way that they can leave the fields unless somehow they were commanded.”

Gabe gives a look of confusion and concern. “That doesn’t sound good.” He grabs the hilt of his sword, wanting to draw it, but unsure if he should. 

Grace turns toward the Fields of Punishment. “I’m more worried about how quiet the Fields of Punishment are. Those are the really nasty souls. I wouldn’t worry about the souls from Asphodel.”

“Well, where should we start?” Ally asks. “Should we try the Judging Pavilion? That is where Minos resided before wasn’t it?”

“Yes, that is where he used to judge the dead, but if you just took over the Underworld, would you stay where you’ve been for the last few thousand years? No, you’d go straight to the Palace. Where you believe you deserve to live.”

“How do you know that?” Rose asks.

“It’s exactly what I’d do, and I’d bet my last dime that’s what Minos did too. Let’s get going.”

Everyone draws their weapons and they start walking towards the palace.

“We need to be careful,” Grace warns. “We are going to stick out like sore thumbs here.”

“Can’t we sneak in some way?” Charley asks.

“No, only one way to the Palace, and that is through Asphodel Fields.”

Everyone looks around, but then Gabe interjects. “Yeah, but who says we have to walk straight there and through the middle of the fields?” He looks over at the edge of the fields toward some rocks.

Rose gets a look on her face, almost like, Why didn’t I think of that, but then says, “You’re right Gabe, we can go along the side of the fields, along those rocks.”

She points out the rocks that she is talking about. They look as if they can go all the way to the palace, but it is hard to tell for sure.

Grace looks nervously, “We will have to be careful though. If I remember my lessons from Kate, those rocks are the border to one of the entrances to Tartarus.” The air seems to get colder at the mention it. Almost as if some of Tartarus was coming up to the Underworld. Everyone can feel it, they all shiver and try to shake it off.

Determined to keep everyone calm, Justin again pushes his fear down deeper inside of himself. “But it will provide us cover. We will just have to be cautious. It’s our best bet right now.”

With that, everyone sets off across the plains of Asphodel toward the rocks. Constantly on the lookout for anything harmful.

“This seems easy enough, sneak along the rocks, sneak into the palace, knock Minos out, day is saved. What could possibly go wrong?” He gives everyone his signature trouble-maker smile. They seem to relax a little bit.

Little do they know, they are already being watched.


	9. Traversing the Underworld

Rose fells like they’ve been walking all day long. She has no idea how long they actually have been walking. They are all exhausted from Justin’s pace. “Justin, we need to stop. We need rest.”

As soon as she gets the words out of her mouth, Justin stops. He props himself up against the rocks. Dripping with sweat he says, “You’re right. We’re no good if we are dead on our feet.”

Rose removes her back pack and sits down on a boulder. “Grace, Gabe, Charley and Ally, you guys should try and grab some sleep. I’ll keep watch with Justin.”

They nod to her and try to find a comfortable spot to lay down.

Rose gets up and walks over to Justin. He looks up to her and tries to smile, but he is too tired.

“You look like crap Barnacle Brain.”

“Like you have room to talk Ro.”

“Are you implying that I look bad?” she says teasingly.

His eyes widen, “Gods no! You look great, I mean, you always do, and right now, you look nice, but tired.” His face growing redder by the second.

Rose loves messing with Justin like this. It’s so easy to make him word vomit. She starts laughing at his face. “Oh, so you think that I’m hot?” She raises an eyebrow at him.

He gives a deer-in-the-headlights look. Rose has rendered him speechless, mission accomplished. She cracks up laughing. “If I had a golden drachma for every time you put your foot in your mouth, I’d be loaded.”

“Take it easy on me, I’m exhausted,” he says chuckling. 

“Not a chance Barnacle Brain, I will never ever make things easy for you.”

She sits down next to him and puts her head on his shoulder. She couldn’t believe their circumstances. Here they are, in the Underworld, with no back up and walking toward an army. They weren’t even adults yet. Then her mind wandered to the conversation with her mother, and whether Justin should know.

“What’s on your mind Ro?” He is looking at her with concern.

“How do you know something is on my mind?”

He gives a slight smile. “Well first, you are a daughter of Athena, so you are always thinking about SOMETHING. Second, you are chewing your bottom lip. It’s your tell.”

She suddenly became very aware of the fact that she is chewing on her lip. She stops immediately and says, “Nothing, only that so far this has been easy. It makes me uncomfortable.”

“I know what you mean, I figured we’d be neck deep in monster dust by now. I guess we should count our blessings.”

“What other blessings do we have?” She starts to wonder if he overheard her conversation with her mother last night.

“Well, we were able to get Stygian Iron weapons, we got a chance to rest, and also, you are with me.” He gives her a smile.

Rose playfully nudges him, then gives a yawn.

“You should sleep. I’ll get the watch for a bit,” he says to her.

She wants to argue, but she is so tired. “Alright, but if you get tired, wake me up. Don’t be a hero.”

He nods.

“Alright, good night,” he winks at her as she shuts her eyes. Her dream wasn’t very encouraging.

She was back at camp in the war room. Chiron had everyone around the ping pong table. 

“Alright we only have four days left. Kate has informed me that she believes they are close. We haven’t had an update from Justin’s quest, but that was expected. We need to make preparations for a large battle if we must.”

Jimmy the counselor from Hephaestus spoke up and said, “Hephaestus cabin has already began working on defense fortifications that Ares cabin will put in place.” 

Chiron nods, then he said, “We must expect an attack as soon as Minos has reached full power, should either quest fail.”

Phillip, Hermes counselor asks, “Attack from what?”

That’s when Rose was awoken by a loud roar. But not a roar that she knew. It almost sounded like the bellow from a cow.

 

Her eyes burst open to see Justin standing, ready to fight, Riptide drawn. He looks to Rose, “Better get ready. The Minotaur found us, oh, and he brought some friends.”


	10. Terror from Within

Right when Justin thought he could relax, maybe get some rest, he saw the Minotaur marching across the plains with an army of monsters at his back.

He was garbed in armor with a giant battle axe in his right hand. His horns were long and came to a dangerous point.

To his back, there was dracanae, telekhines, and hell hounds. A formidable force against a regular sized army, let alone six teenaged demigods.

He hated waking Rose when she looked so peaceful, but it was time to fight. She woke up immediately and now she is waking the others, and getting everyone ready for a fight.

Justin is tense, but he is ready. He swings Riptide around, bouncing on the balls of his feet, getting loosened up.

His friends come up to him, weapons drawn. Looking nervous, but determined.

Rose looks to Justin. “We need a plan of attack.”

“I already have a plan, attack.” He starts to run, but is immediately grabbed by Rose.

“No! No way Barnacle Brain! They outnumber us 100 to 1! We need tactics!”

“Fine! Anyone have any bright ideas?”

Gabe says, “Actually, I do. I packed a few Greek Fire Grenades before we left. Also, Grace could maybe cause some rock spires to shoot up. Cause some damage from afar. Plus we can use the few arrows that we have to thin out some of them.”

“Sounds great, let’s do it,” Rose says. “I don’t want to go hand to hand with that many monsters unless we have to.”

Justin shakes his head, he wants to go now, but he knows Rose is right. He reluctantly gives in and grabs a grenade and prepares to throw it.

Justin and Ally prepare to throw the grenades while Gabe and Grace prepare to do their thing.

“Rose, tell us when to throw, Charley, you direct where they land using air currents.”

“Incoming!” Rose yells as she and Charley dive out of the way of a large rock. It just misses them.

“Fire!” she yells.

Ally, Gabe and Justin release their ordinance. They all find their targets. Meanwhile Grace is having rock spires shoot up, impaling monsters.

The small group keeps up the assault for a while, but quickly run out of Greek fire. That’s when the monsters start throwing boulders again.

They don’t ever find home, but they get close. Justin and his friends have many small cuts from debris. Soon the monsters will be on him.

Justin turns around to look for something to use to help when he hears Rose yell at him. “Justin, look out!”

Then he is shoved to the side, just as a large rock lands where he was standing, shattering into a million pieces.

He stands up and he turns around to see Rose lying on the ground, bleeding from her head. His heart drops to his stomach.

Immediately, he rushes to her and feels for a pulse. He feels a weak one. She’s alive! “Ally! Get nectar and give it to Rose! NOW!”

He sounds harsh, but he doesn’t care.

He picks Rose up to move her to safety. Setting her down gently behind a boulder, he kisses her forehead. “Thank you Ro.” He stands up and meets eyes with Ally.

“Watch her, I got this.”

“Okay…” she looks terrified.

“No one touches her, got it?”

“Sure, you’ve got it Justin.”

He walks away, feeling the anger build up inside of him. He walks past the other three right out into the field. The monster army is getting nearer by the second, but Justin doesn’t care. 

He has never felt this angry before. 

Charley calls after him. “Justin, what are you doing? You can’t go out there alone!”

Justin turns around to face Charley. His gaze must have been really harsh because Charley shrinks away, “Never mind bro, good luck. If you need anything, let me know.”

Justin turns back toward the monster army. He starts to let his rage come up from deep within. All the anger that he felt inside him. Anger toward Hades for showing him Rose getting hurt, getting taken away. Any time that someone made fun of him, or put him down. Then toward the monsters for actually hurting Rose. Every bit of anger starts boiling to the surface. Now is the perfect time to let it out. 

He feels a yell wanting to come out, he figures, might as well let it out, maybe it will scare some of them.

He doesn’t really remember the yell all that much, but his friends described it to him as bone chilling.

All he remembers is that when he started to yell, everything around him started to shake. Just a little bit at first, then everything started shaking like crazy. Rocks are falling from the ceiling, the spires that Grace made are crumbling like sand, and giant chasms open up everywhere.

I’m causing an earthquake. He can’t believe it, he is actually causing an earthquake. The chasms widen, throwing most of the monster army back to the depths of Tartarus. The Minotaur though, he stands his ground. He starts to charge, roaring loudly. 

“Oh, you still want some? Good! Bring it on Burger Boy!”

Justin starts running at the Minotaur, Riptide drawn and ready for blood. They meet a short distance later, Justin just dodging a swing of the giant axe. I need to make sure that doesn’t catch me, one hit from that I’m done for.

He keeps dodging the axe, ducking down, jumping over as it swings. He realizes that the earthquake is still going on. He can use this to his advantage. He starts walking backwards towards one of the chasms that is still open, making his opponent think that he is getting tired.

Justin keeps falling back, one step at a time. When his foot finds the end of the cliff, he stops. He waits for his opponent’s next attack, when he swings, Justin dives between his legs and grabs the monster’s legs causing it to lose balance and fall forward. As he falls to his knees at the cliff edge, Justin stabs with Riptide, right between the monster’s shoulders and his blade sinks deep. 

When he pulls Riptide out, the bull hasn’t disintegrated, but he is very weak. Justin places his foot right on the spot he stabbed and pushes with all his strength, sending the Minotaur falling down to the pit.

Justin turns around, expecting to see the rest of the monster army, but only sees his five friends. Rose is leaning on Ally. Her arm around Ally’s shoulders, looking weak, but she is alive. He immediately runs up to her and wraps her in a tight hug.

“What the hell were you thinking Rose? Why would you do that?”

“I’d do anything for you Barnacle Brain,” she says with a small chuckle. “How did you do that? Creating an Earthquake? You probably caused a lot of damage on the surface with that.”

“I was just so mad, and scared. I just let it all out.”

Ally came up to him, she still looks scared, she said, “I have never seen you look so scary before. I’ve seen you mad, but you looked terrifying.”

Charley came up to him, shaking his head and chuckling, “Yeah man, I mean, you looked so pissed off that you probably would have freaked Ares out.”

He can’t believe what he is hearing, he scared his friends. Not like a joking, “Ha ha, got you!” way, but an actual, “You’re a monster,” kind of way. He lowers his head, looking straight at his shoes. What if I am a monster? What if I am too dangerous? Then he feels a hand rest on his shoulder. A soft, gentle touch, one of compassion and love. He looks up to see the owner of the hand, and it’s Rose.

She is giving him a look, not of hate, but of love, understanding, and worry. “What’s wrong?”

Justin can’t believe it, she isn’t scared of him. She actually wants to get closer to him. But how can that be? She should be repulsed by him, he is too destructive, too dangerous. But the look in her eyes shows no signs of fear.

“Guys, can you give us a minute?” she asks the rest of the group.

“Yeah, sure Rose, no problem,” Grace says. She and the rest of their friends head back to where they camped to gather their things and scrounge any supplies they can from the battle.

When they are out of ear shot she asks him, “Justin, what’s wrong? You can tell me.”

“What if I’m too dangerous for everyone? Look at all the damage I did here, what if I lose control like this on the surface?”

She puts a hand on the side of his face, “You could never do something like this in a harming way. You are too kind, you always think about the wellbeing of others before yourself. This is just another power that you will have to control, I know you can master it.” She smiles at him, “Besides, if you tried to do this to harm innocent people, I’d kick your butt before you’d succeed.”

He gives a soft smile, trying to hide the tears welling up in his eyes. “I was just so afraid that I’d lost you. Seeing you lay there on the ground, bleeding and unconscious… It’s something that I never want to see ever again. I was ready to tear down the thrones of the Gods to get you back.”

Tears are starting to run down his face now. He wipes them away, he doesn’t want to look weak to Rose. He wants to be strong for her. When all of a sudden, his face is lifted up and her lips are pressed against his. He feels a warm liquid running down his cheeks, but they aren’t his tears. Why is Rose crying? 

The thought quickly leaves his mind though, he starts kissing her back, and it feels so right. It is almost as if they were made for each other. When the kiss breaks, he looks into her stormy gray eyes. He wipes the tears that are falling from them.

He wants to say something to her, but his brain seems to have lost all the words during the kiss. 

“I’m sorry that I scared you, I only pushed you out of the way because I knew that rock would kill you, and I- I couldn’t take the thought of you dying, I was scared that you would get hurt. It killed me watching Hades torture you, and I don’t ever want to see you hurt ever again.”

Tears are rolling down her face still, faster than before. Justin starts to understand a little better now. The feelings that he has had for Rose for a long time, the ones that are more than just friendship, she has them too. She feels for him, the same way he feels for her. 

He cups her face, and pulls her toward him until their foreheads are touching, “Ro, if you promise me to not do anything to get yourself hurt, I will promise you that I won’t do anything to get myself hurt, deal?”

She smiles at him, “Deal.”

They just sit there for a minute being in each other’s company. Justin feels like he has a purpose to fight now. Not just to save the world, but something personal. He will always fight for his friends, but now, he has Rose. Someone who is special to him, and someone that feels the same way for him. 

After they calm down, they head back to their friends. Everything is packed up and the group looks tired and dirty. “So, shall we continue on toward the palace?”

Rose nods her head and says, “Yeah, but I need to tell you some information that I learned from the dream I had before the attack. We don’t have much time so I will explain on the way.”


	11. Sneaking Into the Palace

Rose couldn’t believe the weird turn of events that had occurred. She never thought that her feelings for Justin were anything more than being close friends. But seeing that huge rock about to crush him, her world stopped. She couldn’t lose him, she wouldn’t.

That’s when she knew. She likes him a lot more than she has let herself believe this whole time.

Then, Justin’s admission that when he thought she was dead, how afraid he was. She knew that he felt the same way for her. She had a feeling for a long time that Justin had a crush on her, but never thought it was more than a crush.

Then, if all of that wasn’t weird enough, they had already spent half of the time for the quest in the Underworld. She had assumed that they had been underground for part of a day. They had to hurry.

Once she told the group about her dream, they all looked worried. Grace seemed to lighten the mood when she said they were nearly there. The gates to the palace would soon be in sight.

Now, they were all walking toward the palace across the plains. She kept looking over at Justin, then he would look at her. They would meet eyes and immediately look away blushing.

Rose tries ignoring the butterflies in her stomach. But everything felt different. She feels like she has a new purpose in life, something new to keep her going.

After walking for a few hours, they arrive at the entrance to Hades’ palace.

“How are we supposed to get inside?” Charley asks.

“I could try and summon an earthquake to break the door down,” Justin suggests.

At first, it sounds like a good idea, but then Grace asks, “Can you control where you cause damage?”

He thinks for a bit, then, “Probably not…” He says discouraged.

Rose pats his shoulder, “It was a good thought, but let’s try something a little stealthier. Grace, do you know of anything?”

“I might be able to tunnel under it. Let me see how deep the wall goes.”

Grace closes her eyes, surveying the underground layout. When she opens her eyes, she looks surprised. “The walls don’t go deep. I can easily tunnel under them.”

“Sounds good. Let’s do it somewhere away from the main entrance, we should try to be as inconspicuous as possible. In this case we need to be as stealthy as we can, we don’t want to cause undue attention to ourselves.”

Just like in the tunnel of Orpheus, their way is only lit by their Celestial Bronze weapons. Luckily, they weren’t underground for too long. Grace starts sloping upward and shortly they broke the surface.

One by one, they climb out of the hole.

“Alright,” Justin starts. “Minos most likely will be in the throne room. Grace, any idea where that would be?”

“It’s in the center of the palace, but I’m not sure how to get there.”

Rose looks around the entrance of the palace. It looks like there is only one way to go, either they are in the right place, or it is a trap. Or both.

“Well, there is only one way to go for now, so we might as well take it. We don’t have much else of a choice. Everyone, just stay on the look-out for any traps or dangers. Grace, keep scanning to see if any dead are coming our way, hopefully they aren’t attracted to your presence.”

We make our way down the cavernous hall, Justin in the front, Gabe bringing up the rear. It’s a slow pace, but if they go any faster, they could set off a trap, or alert monsters to their presence. Grace is constantly scanning around them, looking for tunnels, pits and zombies that might entrap them. They check out every door, trying to find the throne room.

In a few rooms, they have to kill some monsters or zombies so they won’t raise the alarm. Everything seemed to go fairly smooth. 

“Does this seem too easy to you guys?” Justin asks.

Charley nods, “Yeah, I was just thinking that, but what choice do we have? There is only one hallway, so it isn’t like we can go down another one.”

Rose looks ahead of them, “Hey you guys, do you think that’s the door we need?”

Everyone looks straight ahead down the long hallway, at the end of the hallway is a large, ornate door. It sticks out like a sore thumb compared to the other doors. It must be the throne room. 

“What else could it be?”

“Well, shall we see who is home?” Justin says. He brandishes Riptide and takes off running toward the door.

“Justin wait!” Rose yells after him. “We need a plan!”

It’s too late, Justin runs into the door and breaks open the doors.

The group runs after him. “That Barnacle Brain better not get hurt! Because I’m gonna kill him!” Rose puts on a burst of speed to get there first. A few feet away from the door she hears it…

A blood curdling scream from her best friend.

She can’t see him yet, but she knows that he needs her. She comes through the door, seeing Justin curled on the floor in the fetal position. He looks like he is having a seizure because he is shaking so much. 

She looks up to the throne, to see Minos. He is holding a scepter made of bone that is glowing purple and radiating an energy that puts chills down Rose’s spine.

She rushes to Justin and picks him up to hold him in her arms. Trying to comfort him in anyway. The rest of the group circles around them.

She hears Minos chuckle, “Hello little demigods, so glad you could join us.”


	12. Revelations Part II

Rose is shaking with anger. She isn’t sure what Minos is using to make Justin go insane, but she has to stop it. The Helm of Darkness did so damage to his mind last time, she worries that this time it won’t take as much to make him worse. 

“What in the name of the Gods are you doing to him?” She asks, her voice shaking.

“Oh, I’m just testing out this new item of power that I have created. The Staff of Disorder, I made it to replace Hades’ Helm of Darkness. What do you think about it young demigod?” Minos has an evil grin on his face. 

He is enjoying this, he likes causing this pain. Rose can’t believe it. She squeezes Justin even tighter. She whispers into his ear, “Don’t you quit on me Barnacle Brain. Hold on for a bit, I promise this bastard will pay.”

She sets him down softly, turning to Charley. “Watch him, no one touches him. Got it?” 

He nods to her with a determined look on his face. “You got it Rose. I’ll kill anyone who tries.”

She is grateful for his courage and his determination. But right now, all she needs is a vanished ghost king. Her anger is to an all new level, she wasn’t even this mad with Kate. 

“Minos, release him. Now, or I will swear to all the Gods that you will regret every second that you hold him like this.”

“You have no power over me little girl. I am a ghost, your celestial bronze will do nothing against me. Not only that, but you are weak. I know you, child of Athena. You have no powers like the rest of your friends. I know the fear in your heart, you always feel insignificant to your friends. You don’t have any power over water, electricity, gems, or even words. All you have is your own self, it will take a lot more power than that to beat me.”

Rose’s mind immediately went to the owl charm that is on her wrist. Before, she didn’t want to take the charm off, she was worried about what others would think about her. But now, with Justin in the danger that he’s in, she couldn’t care less. 

“You’d do well to be fear me Minos. There is more to me than what people know. I have more power in my little finger than any of my friends have in their whole bodies combined. I have drank from the breast of Athena as an infant, more than Heracles had. I am closer to a God than you can ever hope to be.”

The grin that had been on the Ghost king’s face suddenly disappeared, “You lie, I sense no extra power in you. You are just a regular demigod.”

“Think again,” She grabbed the owl charm and ripped it off of her bracelet. She suddenly felt that surge of energy that signals the release of her hidden power. She feels edgy, and ready to fight. She wants to strangle Minos with her bare hands, and with her hidden power now out, she knew that she could. “Now do as I said and release him, before I make you release him.”

Minos readjusts himself in the throne, “If you can beat my personal guards, I will release your boyfriend.”

Rose looks at the monsters coming at her. Zombies, Laistrygonian Giants, Dracaenae and Telekhines. She could draw her sword and take them all out easily, but no, she needs to get rid of the monstrous rage that is building up inside of her. She is going to take out each and every one of these monsters with her bare hands.

“Grace, take my blade, I’m not going to be needing it for this fight.”

“Rose, are you sure? There are a lot of monsters out there, you might need it.” Grace looks worried, “You may be strong, but are you sure you can do this?”

Rose chuckles, and holds out her sword toward her friend. “Grace, you have no idea. Take my blade.” 

She hesitantly takes the sword and backs away. 

Rose turns around to face the monster horde in front of her. “Now,” she says, cracking her knuckles. “Who’s up first?”

Three Laistrygonian Giants charge her, swinging clubs and chains. She charges right toward them. When the first giant swings his chain at her, she grabs it an inch from her face and pulls the giant toward her. He flies at her with a look of horror on his face, not understanding where this small girl was getting her immense strength from. 

When he gets close to Rose, she smashes his face in with her left hook, instantly pulverizing him into golden dust. Immediately she jumps out of the way of a giant club coming down where she stood. She kicks the club, shattering it in half. She jumps on top of the giant and kicks him down impaling him down on the broken club. She leaps off of his body before he turns to dust. 

The last giant turns to the other monsters, looking for help. The four dracaenae look at each other and charge at Rose. 

She jumps up in the air and she kicks the first dracaenae into the last giant, sending them flying. The next dracaenae that came at her, thrusts its spear right at Rose’s heart. Rose immediately grabs the spear end and breaks the spear head off and throws it at the fourth Dracaenae. It is thrown so hard that the spear head goes completely through her and imbeds itself a few inches away from Minos’ face in the throne. 

With the shaft of the broken spear she hits the dracaenae who was holding it, sending her back a few feet. She then swung the staff at the monster’s head and broke the shaft over the monster’s head. She hit the monster’s head so hard that it flew off. The head and body immediately turns to dust. The last giant and dracaenae charge rose together, both wielding clubs. The giant swings his club at Rose, but at the last second she ducks down, causing the giant to swing his club into the dracaenae causing her to turn to dust. 

Rose stood up and jumped up on the giants back, grabbing onto his shoulders. She grabbed him by his head and twisted it, breaking his neck. 

She jumped down and turned to the five telekhines and smirked. “Any other victims?” Rose asked. 

The telekhines start shaking and immediately drop their spears and swords. As they try to run away, they fall down to the ground shrieking and grabbing their heads. 

“Cowards! You dare call yourselves a part of my guard?!” Minos yells in fury. He gets up from the throne and goes over to the disposed telekhines and smash them with his staff one at a time.

“Now that I have disposed of your personal guard, release Justin,” Rose said. Her anger was still welling up inside of her chest. She still wanted to strangle Minos for the pain she is causing her best friend. 

“Oh, but you didn’t dispose of all of them by yourself. I had to destroy the telekhines, yes you frightened them, but I destroyed them.”

Rose’s anger seemed to triple, “You dare go back on your word? After you see the destruction that I can cause? You are not very wise, you will regret your decision Minos.”

“You are a mortal, you cannot harm me. If you try to touch me, you will pass through me.” Minos has his grin back. He turns to the zombies behind him, “Leave none of them alive.”

The zombie army started to charge toward Rose’s friends. At first Rose runs toward Justin to protect him. But all of her friends were circled around him and protecting him.

She needs her weapon now. “Grace! Blade!” Grace tosses Rose her sword and as soon as the sword reaches her, she throws the sheath away. She won’t be needing it.

I have to get to Minos and destroy that staff. She takes off running toward him and immediately runs into zombie warriors. She slashes left and right, beating all the zombies near her. As soon as those fell, another wave came at her. It seemed as if the zombie warriors would never end. But she kept pushing her way towards Minos, inch by inch.

Finally after all of the zombies get out of the way she is face to face with Minos. She slashes her blade through Minos, cutting him in half. Or, it should have cut him in half. It passed through him, leaving him completely unharmed. 

Minos laughs, “I told you, celestial bronze weapons do not effect me.” 

Rose reaches up and grabs hold of his neck. She wasn’t sure if it would work, but she had to try something. To her surprise, it actually worked. She has Minos by the throat.

“What?! How?!” Minos tries to yell.

“Now, release Justin, or else I will rip whatever throat you have out.”

He tries resisting, but he can’t find any way out of Rose’s vice grip. The more he resists, the tighter Rose’s grip became. 

“Alright! Alright!” His scepter stops glowing, and the air around the room suddenly becomes calmer. Rose turns around to look at Justin. He seemed to be coming out of his nightmare. He looked at Rose, eyes clearing up slightly. He looked to be okay. 

The rest of the group appears to be okay as well. A little roughed up from the fighting, but still in one piece.

“There! Your friend is free, now let me go!” Minos yells. 

“Why should I? You are trying to take over the Underworld, and after that, the mortal world. I could rid every one of you for good.” 

“If you destroy me, then who will judge the dead? You know that Hades needs someone to judge the dead. I’ve seen every soul that has come in and out of this world. I have even judged you six.”

With that, Rose drops Minos. “What did you say?”

“Yes, young demigod, I judged each and every one of your souls in past lives. This is your third life for each and every one of you,” Minos says, rubbing his ghostly neck. “You wouldn’t want to anger me now would you? You might miss out on your chance for the Isles of the Blessed with your loved ones. Would you like to spend the rest of eternity in the Fields of Punishment?”

Rose and her friends all fall silent. All heads are turned toward Minos now. “You’re bluffing!” Rose yells.

“No, I am speaking with complete honesty, I swear on the River Styx that I am speaking the truth about your past lives.”

Rose’s ears are ringing, she can’t believe what she is hearing. What if I destroy him though? If I kill a ghost, he can’t judge us. But what if he just comes back again, then we would be put into the Fields of Punishment.

“It appears that you are in a bit of a bind aren’t you?” Minos says chuckling. “You have no choice but to let me reign. As long as I am as powerful as the gods, no one will dare oppose me!” His staff starts glowing again.

That’s it! That staff is the source of his power, if I destroy it, then Hades will be able to come back and banish Minos for good!

Rose lunges toward the staff and grabs it. She tries to tear it away from the ghost, but his grip is surprisingly strong for someone without a body. The longer that she holds onto the staff, the more her head starts to hurt.

“Fool! You can’t hold my staff! If you try, you will be driven insane, you will live out all your fears,” Minos says while fighting Rose.

Rose can feel her mind starting to stretch towards its limits. She sees flashes of Justin and her other friends laying on a floor, bloodied and dead. She sees Camp Half Blood and Camp Jupiter destroyed. Everyone laying on the ground, mass destruction has torn the camps apart.

NO! I refuse to let that happen to my homes! 

With one last great effort, she pulls with every muscle in her body. Pulling the Staff of Disorder away from Minos and when it is out of his hands, she lets it fly into the wall. As soon as the staff makes contact with the obsidian wall it shatters. 

All the zombies stop what they are doing and fall to the ground. The air starts to clear and feels less threatening.

“No! What have you done?!” Minos goes to the pieces of his staff, trying to put the pieces back together, but to no avail. “You demigods will never reach Elysium, ever! As soon as you die, I will send you to the Fields of Punishment! You will never rest in peace!”

Rose gets ready to fight the ghost again, but all of a sudden a presence enters the room.

“Not if I have any say in the matter Minos,” the voice seems to be coming from everywhere and nowhere simultaneously. “You have over stepped your boundaries, and for that, you will be the one punished, not these young heroes.”

“My lord Hades,” Minos says, falling to the floor in a groveling manner. “I beg your forgiveness, I only acted in your best interest. I did not want anyone to come into your palace and try and take over!”

All of a sudden, the area right in front of Minos became hot. Rose knew what that meant, “Everyone close your eyes now!” She knows that Hades is going to be arriving very soon. She no sooner gets her own eyes closed before she feels the supernova which signals the arrival of the God.

 

“Do not lie to a God, I know your true intentions Minos. I was lenient with you when you died the first time. You should have received the Fields of Asphodel. I will not be so kind to you with this punishment.”

“My lord, I apologize, I agree, Asphodel is what I deserve. I have disrespected you and I am ashamed of my actions.”

“No…” Hades said. His voice is harsh and cold. “You don’t deserve that. You deserve the worst punishment that I can think of. One that a child of mine, Nico di Angelo, used on a demigod many years ago. You are going to die, but so is your soul. No one will remember you, no one will ever have to worry about what you might do if you raise again. You will exist in no way ever again.

Minos has a look of pure terror on his face. “My Lord, I am sorry, please do not send me away. I will go to the Fields of Punishment! Please do not destroy my spirit!” He is down on his ghostly knees, pleading to the God of the dead. 

“Minos, Judge of the Underworld, I will be your judge in your trial for your soul. For the crime of treason and throwing a coupe, I find you guilty. Your punishment is to have your soul destroyed.” Hades holds his hand out, almost as if he is offering Minos a hand up. But as his hand is open, an essence seems to start going into his hand, like a vacuum sucking smoke into it. 

That’s when Rose realizes what is happening. Hades is absorbing the essence of Minos. Slowly, Minos starts to disappear until he is gone completely.

Hades then turns around to the demigod group. “Thank you, young heroes. Even you son of Poseidon.”

Rose turns around to see Justin being helped up by Charley. Her heart does a back flip seeing him alright. He and the rest of the group start walking up to Hades, who is now sitting in his throne. 

 

When Justin gets to the throne, he kneels down on one knee and says, “Lord Hades, I am sorry for the insults I said about you. I hope that this quest can make up for some of those slanders. I will work on making it up to you for as long as I must.”

He looks up to the God of the Underworld in anticipation.

Hades chuckles, “I dare not punish you anymore than I already have. It was because of you that I was absent from my domain in the first place.”

“What do you mean?” Justin asks. He has a look of confusion on his face. As Rose looks around at the rest of her friends, everyone has the same look on their face as well.

“Your father tricked me into going toward Alaska. He had me meet him in Canada and when I got there he trapped me in a magic net and took me to Alaska where we gods don’t have our power. It appears that you are his favorite child, and he did not take kindly to me driving you mad.”

“I did not ask him to take any vengeance on you, I swear on the River Styx.” Justin is starting to look nervous now. 

“I know that, but I did take my punishment with the Helm of Darkness too far. I won’t apologize, but I am wise enough to know when to let an issue go. If it wasn’t for you, I would not be back in my palace right now. So I actually thank all six of you.”

All six demigods bowed to Hades and thank him in return. But Rose has one more question.

“My lord,” she begins. When he turns his attention to Rose, she says, “Minos said that he judged our last lives. He said this was each of our third lives, and that if we reached Elysium again that we would go to the Isles of the Blessed.”

Hades nodded his head. “Yes, this is the truth. Usually demigods aren’t supposed to know what life they are on, it might change the way they live their lives. But this is an instant where it could not be helped. I cannot tell you who you were in your past lives, but I will say this. You all have defied all odds on what has happened with re-born demigods. When you get older and are closer to death, you will know what I mean.”

Rose can’t believe it. Who was her past life? Was Justin’s soul with her in her past lives? What about the others? Who were her parents in the lives? Her head was spinning with questions. But she decides that she shouldn’t press the God of the dead much further. 

“So, I have a question,” Rose hears Gabe’s voice. “How are we supposed to get home now?” 

Rose had to admit that was a good question. It took them a week just to get here, is it going to take that long to get home?

“I guess as a reward, I can transport you young children home. It’s the least I can do for you saving my domain.” He rubs his hands together, then holds them out. 

All of a sudden dark shadows appear at each of their feet. She looks up at the god. 

“Hope you don’t mind Shadow Travel.”

With that, they all fall into darkness.


	13. Running Off Into the Woods

Justin loved Shadow Travel. It was like the best roller coaster, only it was in the dark. He was relieved when it stopped though. Being in the dark with all that fear, shortly after he was in a nightmare world, it stretched his sanity a little too far for comfort.

Hades had sent them to the sword training arena back at camp. It was just after sunset.

Justin lets out a sigh of relief. 

“It’s good to be home,” he says looking at his friends. Then he looks at Rose, standing at the edge of the group.

He walks over to her and wraps her in the tightest hug he can give. When she hugs him back, she squeezes a little too tight.

“Owowow! RO, too tight!”

Immediately, she lets go and backs away. “I’m sorry!” A look of fear covers her face.

Justin turns to the rest of his friends. “You guys go on. Let everyone know we made it back safely. We’ll catch up.”

They all nod and start walking toward the dining pavilion.

Justin turns back toward Rose. “What’s wrong Ro?”

“I’m a monster, I can’t control my strength. I don’t want to hurt you,” she whispers. A tear forms in her eye.

Justin walks over to her and wipes the tear away. “Rose, you are not a monster. You will learn to control this new power, and the only way you could hurt me, would be leaving.”

He can’t lose his best friend, not after all they’ve been through. Especially not after they have finally gotten passed this awkward friendship and are now a thing. “I can’t lose you Ro, I won’t. If you run, I will follow you.”

A small smile appears on her face. “You honestly think that you’d catch me Barnacle Brain?”

“All the Gods combined couldn’t keep me from following you,” he says with a smile. 

Her face relaxes slightly, “What makes you think you could catch me?”

“I know you more than anyone else, I could track you easily,” he says with a chuckle. He wraps his arms around her, holding her tightly. “I don’t care if you break every bone in my body, I won’t let you leave. You will learn to control your strength, I’ll help you.”

From behind them, they hear a woman’s voice. 

“Hello my daughter. I am glad to see that you made it back from the Underworld safely. However, you left something behind.”

Justin and Rose turn around to see Athena. She is standing there holding a hand out, smiling. In her hand is the owl charm bracelet.

“Lord Hades found this in his throne room and realized that it must be something important. He sent it to me, wondering if I knew what it was.”

Rose walks over to her mother and takes the bracelet from her. She puts the bracelet back on and she has a look of relief on her face. She walks back toward Justin, when she gets back to him she turns back to her mother. “Thank you mother, I greatly appreciate it.”

She then looks to Justin, smiling, “Now I can only kick your butt at mortal strength.”

“I’m just glad that you will stick around to kick my butt, no matter what strength.” He gives her a slight squeeze of affection.

“Mother,” Rose starts, turning her attention back to her mother, “In the Underworld. I heard, a couple times, that this was our third life. Can you tell us anything about who our other lives were?”

“I am sorry Rose. That is not something I can tell you at this time. I will, however, tell you that you were a past daughter of mine, and Justin was a past son of Poseidon. You also lived at the same time in your past life.” Athena gives a knowing smile. “Also know that I could not be more proud of either of you.”

With that, Athena starts to glow. The young demigods turn away to avoid the supernova of her true form. 

“So,” Justin starts. “You have your strength gone, what are you going to do now?”

She looks him directly into his eyes. “Well, I won’t be running away, that much is certain.”

Justin smiles, “Good.” Then he pulls her in close and kisses her. His mind goes into the fog that comes when he kisses her. His heart starts racing like crazy, and he is pretty sure this is what Elysium is like.

From behind, they hear, “Well it’s about time!”

They turn around and they see the entire camp looking at them and grinning. Justin was pretty sure he even saw some golden drachma exchange hands. 

He looked to Rose. Then she said, “What do you say we get out of here? I have enough strength and speed to get us out of here in no time at all.”

He gives her a grin, “I’ll throw some water up as a diversion.”

He feels the pull from his gut, calling the water that was in the ground to come up. When it was just below the surface he looks back to Rose. “Ready?”

She gives him a smile and a nod.

He then wills the water to erupt into a large wall of water and mud separating them from the campers. The perfect screen to get away. 

Rose put her owl charm into her pocket, and then picked Justin up. Carrying him like a groom carries a bride.

Justin feels the blood rush to his face in embarrassment. But then he accepts it, “I guess this is fitting for our relationship, in a weird way. Shall we get going?”

With that, Rose takes off running into the woods. Justin feels content being in the arms of his best friend and now, his girlfriend. She has always been the one who has been saving his butt. She saved him when they first met, she saved his sanity numerous times, now she is saving him from the teasing from the other campers.

“Got any ideas on a spot where we can have some privacy?” she asks.

Justin smiles, “Head toward the beach, let’s take a swim.”


	14. Epilogue

The rest of the summer went by so quickly that Justin couldn’t believe it. He and Rose had been training almost non-stop with Chiron. They alternated days on who receive the specialized training. Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday Rose worked with him. Monday, Tuesday and Friday were Justin’s days. 

Rose worked hard on controlling her strength. It took a while to be able to handle small things at first. But she was determined to master it, just like she had mastered her dyslexia and ADHD. Before long she could control her strength without her charm, though she still wore it, wanting to keep her aura from being so strong that every monster in the state could smell her.

Justin, however, took longer to master his new power of summoning, and controlling, earthquakes. A few times, Justin had to go into the sea and visit his father’s palace. He needed to be in the middle of the ocean where he could not bring harm to anyone.

Poseidon had not been particularly pleased that part of his palace was destroyed by his son. But, he was so pleased with the progress that was made that he decided to forgive Justin. 

By the end of the summer, both Justin and Rose were in the best shape they had ever been in. With only one week in summer left, Rose decided to take on a project. She wanted to find out who their past lives had been. 

Justin and Rose started to spend most of their free time in the attic, going through any and all records that they can find. At first, they thought it would be easy to find out which of the children of Poseidon and Athena lived at the same time and had died in the last few hundred years. 

The hardest part about the search was searching through all of the records of each demigod that had come through Camp Half-Blood. As they went through all of the records, they had to sort out the children of Poseidon and Athena.

Almost all of Poseidon’s children have lived longer lives, or they weren’t demigods that would go to Elysium. Three days of searching through all the records, they finally found the only possible candidates for who their last lives could have been. 

“You’re completely sure that you read that correctly?” Justin asks. Completely in disbelief. “You are telling me, that our past lives were Percy and Annabeth Jackson?”

“Well, ever since Percy, Poseidon only had daughters. So it has to be him.”

“And how do you know that you were Annabeth? Was she the only daughter around Percy’s time?”

“No, Annabeth had two sisters at the time, but a dream that I had the other night gives me a feeling that I was Annabeth?”

Justin gives a look of confusion. “What dream?”

“Well, I had visions of tunnels underneath Rome. Visions of a large spider, things that Annabeth had gone through alone. Reading through the accounts of her adventures, none of the children during Percy’s time went through those things.”

Justin’s head is spinning. The children of Poseidon had all looked up to Percy. He was the one that they all aspired to be someday. But, as it turns out, he was the reincarnated form of Percy. 

A thought came into his mind then, “Are we supposed to know this information? I mean, Hades and Athena both said they couldn’t tell us who our lives were, and that it could change how we lived our lives.”

“That isn’t completely true. They said that they couldn’t tell us who we were, or what life we were on. They said nothing about knowing who our past lives were. I’ve never heard of a law that said demigods couldn’t research and find out for themselves who they were.”

“I like the way you think,” Justin says chuckling. 

 

Tonight marks the four year anniversary since Rose and Justin had started dating, we have known each other for seven years total now. They went from being fellow campers, to camp counselors together. The crew of six had all stayed pretty close together and stayed around camp. Ally and Charley were still together, and Grace and Gabe had started dating a few months after the big quest.

But none of the couples were as strong and close as Justin and Rose. They had known each other for a third of each other’s lives. People joked and called them the old couple, even though they were both only 21. They just decided that must come from finding your soul mate three lives in a row. 

To celebrate the monumental anniversary, Justin decided to put on a special night for Rose. He had set up a night with Aphrodite’s help, she owed them after they helped her escape a trap set by Hephaestus intended to catch her and Aries in an embarrassing way. 

They both woke up before the other campers did so they met at the sparring ring like they usually do. 

“Morning Barnacle Brain, ready to get your butt kicked again?”

“As I recall, we broke even yesterday, four each. You have no room to talk Ro,”

“Yeah, but, I let you win all those times,” Rose says playfully. “But don’t worry, I got all day to kick your butt.”

“Actually, you only have a couple hours missy. I got plans for the both of us. You gotta be dressed in nice clothes and ready to travel by 11 a.m. sharp!”

Rose steps back, caught completely off guard. “What are you planning Peterson?” She starts to squint her eyes. “You know I hate surprises, spill it. Or else I’ll spill your blood.”

Justin’s troublemaker grin comes out. “I’d like to see you try.” He gets in his ready position and brings out Riptide. “This is one surprise that you are just going to have to wait for.”

Rose draws her sword, “Fine, I guess you leave me no choice to pound it out of your.”

 

Rose meets Justin at 11:15 at the dining pavilion, dressed in a small black dress that goes all the way to the ground and shows off her athletic body to a point that made Justin’s brain come to a screeching halt. The butterflies were going crazy inside of his stomach, it almost made him sick. But he had to keep a hold of his nerves, tonight was important.

“You’d better have a good reason to have me out here wearing a dress in the middle of the day.” She has a scowl on her face, but she doesn’t look upset, mostly annoyed. “You know I won’t hear the end of this for another month from the Hermes cabin.”

“Eh,” he shrugs. “If they bother you, I’ll just flood their cabin.”

She smiles at him, “Or I will use my strength to throw them so far out into the sound that they will cry to their mommies.”

They start laughing at the thought of some of the campers flying through the air.

“But really, Justin, what are we doing out here dressed up in the middle of the day?”

“Well, since it is our anniversary, I figured,” he paused when he saw the bewildered look on his girlfriend’s face.

“Our anniversary? Aren’t you a couple weeks early?”

“No, it is June the 29th, the day we got back from the big quest.”  
Her eyes widen to the size of drachmas. “Oh gods! I completely spaced on the date!” she hides her face with her hands. Causing a chuckle to escape from Justin. “But that still doesn’t explain what we are doing here in the middle of the day.” She says bringing her face out from hiding.

“Well, my dear, it is evening at your destination.” A voice says from behind her. As Rose turns around, she sees Aphrodite standing behind her smiling. “Your boyfriend called in a favor and I couldn’t be happier to grant this to him as a thanks for the quest you two did for me.”

Memories came back to Rose, memories of being stuck in a bronze net with Justin for five hours with Hephaestus questioning them about why they were helping Aphrodite and Aries. They both honestly pleaded ignorance, and they thought they would never get out of the net alive, until Aphrodite herself had showed up to calm her husband down and tell him she had sent them.

“Our destination? What do you mean?” Rose says puzzled. She looks up at Justin, who is looking at the love goddess. 

“Thank you Aphrodite, I believe we are ready to leave?” he looks down asking Rose, who can only manage a confused nod. He smiles, “hold on Ro.” And all goes black.

“Open your eyes Rose,” she hears Justin whisper to her. When she does, she is standing on marble floor that looked to be hundreds of years old. Looking around, she sees that she is on a hill, over-looking a city. All of sudden, recognition clicked.

“Athens, the Parthenon, that’s where we are.” She turns around to see Justin walking away, toward a table with candles and plates of grilled salmon, her favorite food. He walks up to a chair and pulls it out and motions for her to sit in it.

“Wow, color me impressed Barnacle Brain.”

He chuckles, “I’ve been known to have my moments. I figured that I had better call in that favor from Aphrodite before she forgot about it.”

“Careful, she might make this fish come alive again and attack us if she hears you.” Rose chuckles at the thought of a fish slapping Justin in the face with its tail.

“Nah, I’m pretty sure she won’t do that, this is the kind of thing she lives for,” he looks at her smiling. He has been wearing his troublemaker grin all day, she can tell he is hiding something from her and it is driving her crazy.

“So what other surprises do you have in store for me tonight, Mr. Romance?”

“I guess you will have to wait and see, now eat your salmon before it gets cold.”

 

The rest of the night goes pleasantly. They clean their plates quickly, the salmon almost seemed to melt in their mouth. The veggies were so fresh, they must have been picked that very morning, and the champagne created bubbles in their heads and Justin had to be careful that he didn’t drink too much. His head was already spinning enough before the alcohol.

As they sat in the candlelight, looking over the city of Athens glowing in the night, Justin takes ahold of Rose’s hand and looks her in the eyes.

“I brought you here because this was the start of everything. The start of the gods, history, even the rivalry between our parents. Even after all these years, this building is still standing. It will keep standing for a long time, something to last thousands of years.” He lets out a little chuckle, trying to keep his voice from shaking or breaking. He suddenly becomes aware of how sweaty his palms are, but he keeps holding onto Rose’s hands. She is his anchor, she keeps him steady, and he can do this.

“You saved my butt when we first met. You introduced me into this world, you have kept me alive more times than I can count.” 

She chuckles at the last part. 

“You are the one person that I want by my side during every single adventure I go on. As we get older, the quests become fewer and further between. But I want to start another one with you. One that will last a lifetime,” he gets up from his chair and goes to her side. 

Reaching into his pocket and pulling out a little black box, he gets down to one knee.

Rose’s head is spinning faster than a racecar’s tire now. She knows that the champagne is causing none of this, every bit of this high is caused by the man down on the ground in front of her now. She knows what is coming, and her eyes are watering. 

“However, this quest requires a special bond, and special equipment. I have the piece of equipment you need, all I need now, is for you to answer this one question.” He opens the box and in between the cushions is a small ring that holds a blue diamond. “Rose Moore, would you be my wife on this quest?” 

Justin’s heart is beating so hard and so fast that he is pretty sure that Rose can hear it. He is so anxious to hear her answer as she cups her mouth with her hands. Tears start to form in her eyes.

“Yes! Oh my gods Justin, yes!” her arms envelop his and they start laughing together.

She holds her hand out and Justin slides the ring onto her ring finger, a perfect fit. 

“I’m really glad you said yes, otherwise that terrifying audience with your mother would have been completely wasted.”

Rose laughs, “You personally asked my mother if you could ask me to marry you? Why would you do that?”

“Well, if she didn’t approve of me, she could make my life miserable if I just went ahead with it. I really don’t want to be spontaneously combusted.”

They continue laughing and embracing each other well into the evening. When it was about 6:00 back home, they asked Aphrodite to bring them home. They appeared right in front of the bonfire as everyone started to gather for the sing-a-long. 

As soon as they appeared, a roar of cheers and applause greeted them. Signs that said “Mr. & Mrs. Peterson” were waved.

“How many people did you tell?” Rose asked Justin completely floored. 

“Only Ally, Charley, Grace and Gabe. Charley must have told people, he can’t hold a secret to save his life. I guess this is another reason it’s good you said yes.” He starts laughing, to which Rose joins. It is too good of a night to be upset for any reason. She and Justin interlace their fingers and hold their hands in the air, like they just achieved victory, which in a way, they had.

 

Justin sits in his favorite chair. The chair next to him stood empty, just as it had for the past couple weeks. He and Rose had sat in those chairs over the last twenty years of their retirement. But now, Justin sits there by himself. Rose had left on her final adventure without him. 

He made a mental note to give her some grief when he caught up with him, but Grace told him that Rose came to her in a dream a few nights after she passed with a message for him.

“Take your time Barnacle Brain, I don’t mind waiting for you.”

So his days had been filled with sitting in the living room of their house of fifty years, looking through old photos of the life they built together. Their four kids; the twins Elizabeth and Madison, Thomas, and Sophie.

The gods had offered the young couple a house in New York, but Rose wanted to build a house that she designed. Justin wasn’t one to refuse her, so they built their house a few miles from Camp Half-Blood.

It took a long time to finish it, and at times it seemed to be way too small. But no one ever even considered moving from the small cozy home. After the kids left, it even seemed too big. That is until they started housing campers from camp who didn’t have anywhere to go during the months when no one else was at camp. They would often have a few extra faces, along with Chiron at holiday meals.

Their lives had always felt happy and complete. Justin wasn’t worried about death, he knew that he had lived a good life. He always tried to help others, even if it wasn’t the smartest choice. He had numerous scars to show for it.

After looking at the final picture of himself and Rose during her last birthday party he closed the photo album and put it on the coffee table.

Standing up, he starts heading toward his bed slowly. He chuckles in amazement at how old his body feels. A far cry from the good ol’ days when he could fight and move around with ease. He remembers fighting alongside Rose, in a deadly dance, fighting for their lives.

He also recalls all the times he took her dancing, all the good times he had with his soul mate. Another tear comes to his eye, which he moves to wipe away.

“Do not wipe the tear away young one,” a female voice says in front of him. Looking up he sees three familiar faces. Athena, Poseidon and Hades all stand in front of him.

“I’m sorry my lady, but what did you say?” Justin asks.

“I said, don’t wipe the tear away, keep it as a reminder of all the good times you had with her. She would not like it if you were sobbing over her.” The goddess had a kind smile on her face, which made Justin more uncomfortable than if she had been scowling at him. He was more used to seeing that face from her.

“It wasn’t a tear of sadness, it was one of happiness. I was thinking of all the fun we had, and all the good times.” His response is only half true, he is sad that those times were gone, but he was happier they had happened. “To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”

“My son, you are nearing your death, and you have accomplished something few have done before,” Poseidon starts. “Hades has come a long to tell you the options you now have before you.”

“Nephew,” Hades nods.

The kind title sent a chill down Justin’s spine. “Lord Hades,” he says with a nod of respect. He still hung onto the lesson he learned long ago to not anger the god.

Almost like he was reading Justin’s thought Hades let out a small laugh. “You and your wife have achieved the Isles of the Blessed. I spoke with Rose in her sleep before she passed, I will tell you the same things I told her. You can sit if you wish, this might take a while and you will hear some big news.”

As Justin sits down on the seat near the gods, he is interested in what the god means by big news. 

Hades began again, “You and your wife have been in three different lives. Each time you have found each other and fallen in love with each other. The first life you shared, you were Perseus, and she was Andromeda. The second life, as you two annoying brats found out, you were Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase.”

Justin let out a chuckle at the memory of their discovery. “Yeah, sorry about that.”

“No matter,” Hades said. “When you die and you will have a choice of which form you wish to take. Whether it is Perseus, Percy Jackson, or Justin Peterson, also you will have the memories of each of the lives. The house that you will live in together will take form to however you want it to look. You will also have certain privileges that must not be taken advantage of.”

“What kind of privileges?”

“You can have one soul come to Elysium for a period of one hour per week. As long as the soul is not in the Field of Punishment, it can be whoever you want. You will have to leave the Isles during the visit, but you can come and go to Elysium as you please. Another privilege is once a year, during the Winter Solstice, your soul can visit the mortal world for a few hours. You won’t be able to make contact with any mortals, but you can go wherever you want.”

Justin’s mind spins with all the information that he is taking in. He has a million questions about his past, and what Rose thought about all of this.

“Well, that pretty much wraps it up for me. Take care nephew.” With a nod, Hades turned to shadow and disappeared.

Justin turns his attention to his father and Athena. “Is there more big news that you guys have for me? Because I’m not sure my brain can take much more.”

They both give a small laugh. 

“No my boy, I only came here to tell you that I could not be happier or prouder of you. You have shown so much bravery and compassion that any father would count themselves lucky to have you. I also wanted to let you know that it was, truly a pleasure to know your soul. I have had many children, but yours is one that I will never forget.”

The kind words of his father started to bring tears to Justin’s eyes. He had never heard his father sing his praises in such a manner and it eased any doubt in his mind that the gods didn’t care about him. 

“And as for me,” Athena steps forward a bit. “I wanted to let you know that you have become one of the few men that I consider my favorites among mortals. You have shown me that not all mortals can be judged by first appearance. As your father said, it has been a pleasure knowing you.”

“Thank you, both of you,” Justin says, wiping some tears away. “I am honored by your words. However, while I may be young compared to you, my body is telling me my age now and I am afraid I need rest now.”

“Of course.” The gods say together, with a small bow of their heads, they disappear.

As Justin walks down the hallway towards his bedroom, he thinks about his evening. Never had he experienced three gods in his home at the same time, it filled him with awe. 

He changed into his pajamas and crawled into his bed. Becoming sad at the emptiness he felt from the other side of the bed. He just wanted to be reunited with his soul mate. Chuckling at the irony he felt at realizing he was actually welcoming death.

“Soon Ro, soon I’ll be with you again. When that happens, there is no getting away from me.”

 

When next his eyes opened, he was in some lobby looking at a really old guy wearing an Italian suit.

Looking down at his own body, he couldn’t really determine what he looked like. His features seemed to change by the second and he wasn’t fully formed. Maybe it’s because I haven’t decided which form I will take.

Turning to the guy in the suit, he asks, “Where am I?”

“You are dead young man, I am here to take you into the underworld. Follow me, no payment is necessary for your soul”

A short while later, he stood before a panel of judges.

“Justin Peterson, your soul is here before us again for a third time achieving Elysium, we grant you eternity on the Isles of the Blessed. When you get there, you will be given all the memories of your past lives and you will have twenty-four hours to determine which form you will take on.” 

The skinny man, who Justin recognized at William Shakespeare motioned towards a door to his right. Justin walked to the door and went through it. He walked down the road toward the Isles and when he came to the gate he paused.

With a hand on the gate he took a deep breath to calm the butterflies in his stomach, or whatever they were in his weird soul body. 

Pushing open the gate he is instantly flooded with tons of memories. Some of an ancient life, which he determined were from Perseus, then some more recent, which must be from Percy.

Then he sees a girl, who his memory tells him is Annabeth, his soul mate. She looks at him and her face turns to one of pure joy. 

“Oh my gods! Finally!” she says while still laughing. “Now pick a form so I can hug you!”

“Why did you choose Annabeth?” he asks.

“I’m not sure, I couldn’t decide so I just picked the middle one.”

Chuckling at the simplicity of it, he decided to do the same thing. After solidifying the mental picture of Percy in his head he heard Annabeth’s voice.

“Seaweed Brain.”

Then he was suddenly tackled by the girl who he had fallen in love with three lives in a row.

“Miss me much?” he asked.

“Doesn’t matter now, we are together and you are never leaving me. As long as we’re together.”


End file.
